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Behaviorally Informed Text Messages Pilot Study in Mali and Madagascar

Introduction

The ideas42 pilot study in Mali and Madagascar aimed to increase adoption of mobile banking services using behaviorally informed text messages. The results show that while neither text campaign had the full desired effect, there were some positive outcomes.

Mali

  • The treatments significantly increased sign-up attempts from 0.13% in the control group to 0.81% in the treatment groups.
  • However, total successful sign-ups remained very low with only 204 people attempting to sign up during the pilot period (out of 74,999), of which 173 were accepted.
  • Operational complications during the implementation likely constrained take-up, including a tense election week and holiday travel.

Madagascar

  • The ~Ar15,000 (~$4) increase in Orange Money deposits is economically meaningful as more than half of the country earns less than Ar100,000 per month.
  • Low engagement clients may have been less interested in M-Kajy due to a lack of messaging about the loan feature and limited surplus cash.

Recommendations

1. Operational Structure

Ensure that the operational structure is in place and has been user-tested before launching future communications-based interventions targeting the adoption of new digital financial products.

2. Initial Testing

Initial testing should be done with a target population for whom the value proposition of the product is high.

3. Digital Campaigns

Digital campaigns can be improved via iterative, rapid A/B testing of messages leveraging pilot test results as well as qualitative interviews with pilot or target clients in order to optimize messaging that speaks to their preferences, needs, and concerns.

4. Low-Literacy Populations

Future interventions in low-literacy populations may want to consider expanding into higher-touch, more inclusive channels such as automated voice calls or agent-based interventions in order to ensure the messages are heard and understood.

Conclusion

The study highlights the importance of understanding human behavior and optimizing messaging for specific target populations when implementing digital financial products.